Pakistan asked and Twitter said yes, and now messages deemed by the nation’s telecommunications watchdog as “blasphemous” have been blocked from the social media site.
Pakistan’s government has shut down citizen access to Twitter in the past. But this is believed to be the first time that the Twitter company itself has withheld specific content from entering Pakistan at the government’s request, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority sent in five or more petitions between May 5 and May 14, pointing to objectionable material it wanted Twitter to block.
Of special offense was a tweet that announced an annual online competition to send in caricatures of the prophet Mohammed, AFP reported. But the PTA also asked — successfully — for blocks of accounts from three porn stars from the United States and from handles that includes perceived anti-Islam content, including a picture of the Koran being desecrated.
These tweets are “blasphemous” and “unethical,” the PTA put, in its written petition to Twitter. After Twitter obliged, the PTA then issued a statement saying, “it is good that they have taken action,” AFP reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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